Google+ Shut Down - Let's Start Something New

Have you heard Google+ is shut down? Crazy, I know. I've been using Google+ for quite a while now to help with posting my links to blog posts, YouTube videos, and Twitch streams; now I find myself needing other places to post these things. I found that a lot of the viewership on my blog came from posting links to groups on Google+, but instead I've just finished searching for Facebook groups to share my work with. Because Facebook is so usable and widely used by so many people, I'm hoping that I may not only find new places to share things, but also might find new things to look at myself as well as the possibility of making new friends.

With everything that has been going on in the past few months I've really let myself go. I mean in terms of my content production not only of blog posts, but in everything else as well. I haven't done any recordings or streams or posted much of anything really in the last little while. With this new month and with things going so well at home I'm hoping that the end of Winter will signify the start of something new for me. I'm looking to drive new traffic to the site and have much more entertainment for all of you. Sure I keep saying it, but I can feel it coming down the pipeline this time; this first post is the start of it all.

I've decided that something I will be changing with the way that I do things is that I'm going to finish more things before moving on to new ones. What I mean by this is that I have many Age of Wonders videos that I haven't yet posted even though they're from many months ago... I have at least 10 extra games and apps on my phone right now that I haven't yet reviewed before moving on to new games... and worst of all is that I have so many pictures and videos from so long ago that I haven't yet done anything with and now I'm running out of space on my phone to store it all. So with this planned change of pace, the way I make my new content will change as well as the way I do some things around the house with trying to finish more things before starting new ones.

If anybody has any suggestions on more places to post my works of creativity or any other wonderful suggestions to help me out, I would be greatly appreciative of any and all assistance on ways I can improve and get more interest out there. I've got a lot of upcoming plans not only for gaming content but also for spending time with my fam jam which I hope will come up with some wonderful stories for you all in the future.

Content Production Challenge Revision =15=

For anybody who may be following my one-year content production challenge, you may have noticed that I'm about a week behind where I should be in my challenge. My explanation? I didn't consider that I may get a little sick or that it would be so difficult to continue taking care of a growing baby and a healing fiancee after her surgery.

So I have a slight change of plan to account for this: Instead of aiming for one piece of content posted every single day, I'll be working towards having one year's worth of content as of June 5th of 2019. That means by that date, I should have 365 pieces of content posted, but not necessarily posted one per day.

So from here on out I'll continue to try to get things out there on a regular basis, but just note that it isn't the end of the world if I'm either ahead or behind on content.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Movie Review - Truth or Dare (2018) - Horror - 7/10 =9=

Truth or Dare? Oh, you don't want to play? That's too bad, you've been asked, so now you're in the game and if you don't take your turn and complete the dare, you'll be killed.

This fantastic movie is a Blumhouse production about a group of college students who go on a trip to Mexico where they party and drink. The main character Olivia gets bothered by another character named Ronnie whom nobody likes until a guy who called himself Carter steps in and convinces Olivia and her friends to go with him to the ruins of a nearby mansion where they start playing a game of Truth or Dare.

Carter reveals to Olivia that this isn't just a normal game of Truth or Dare, but it will follow them and they will have to follow the rules or they will die. Olivia returns to school and starts seeing Truth or Dare written around everywhere and hearing the words whispered, but thinks it's all a joke until she accidentally reveals her best friend's secret to a room full of people.

The movie continues with skeptical friends dying and the others trying to survive and find a way to end the game without themselves dying. Things are revealed about each of the characters which makes them more likable or not and in the end we didn't really care about them all too much because there just wasn't any time to get to know them and fall in love with them in the short time of the movie.

I really don't think this movie was quite as bad as the rest of the reviews that I've seen, but then again, I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to movies. I didn't think this was a super cheap movie and I enjoyed the story. Except for a jump-scare or two, this movie wasn't scary at all. I enjoyed it and would recommend watching it for a bit of fun, but not if you're looking for something to really scare the pants off of you.

Unfortunately there isn't too much for me to say about Truth or Dare. I didn't think the acting was too cheesy, the music and sound was good, and the story was reasonable. My personal score for this movie will be 7/10 and a recommended movie to watch for me as long as you aren't looking for anything super original as a new concept.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

Jaw Surgery Adventure - The Beginning =2=

     We have been through quite a crazy jaw surgery adventure in the past few weeks. I don't know yet whether it has been all worth it to go through, but I think once all the healing is compete that Carley will be much happier with the events than she currently is right now.

     The couple weeks leading up to the surgery turned into stress-city around here. I had no idea Carley would get so worked up about something she had been looking forward to for such a long time. She had previously told me about how huge of an effect this would have on her and how she would have a much better self-image. I'm all for supporting her through something that would make her feel better about herself; she fought for this and wrote countless letters to get this whole process started years ago before she even met me. The worst part about the experience for me has been how stressed she started to get leading up to the surgery.

     We reached a point where pretty much everything set Carley off and either started a fight, or she would yelling at me because tasks weren't being done right away or not going her way immediately without questions. I absolutely understood her being in such a stressed position; she was about to go through a very intense process including pain and weight-loss. I think anybody would be stressed knowing they would have to be going through that in such a short time.

     As much as I wanted to explode sometimes, I did my best to keep clam and be as supportive as I could be. We got through the bad feelings by indulging on things that she wouldn't be able to have for a while after the surgery, like pizza, steak, and other fast foods. There are people out there who think stress is nothing and can be pushed aside no problem. Unfortunately that's not the way it is for everybody and that does include my dear sweet Carley. It's really hard sometimes to handle the levels of stress that pour out of this beautiful lady, but I just remember what she is willing to do for me and I put myself next to her to support her and lift her up. We can get through anything together.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

One-Year Content Production Challenge =1=

     Finally the anticipation can be put to rest and you are about to find out what it is that's going to be happening in the coming months. I've been wanting to make something good out of the content I create on my blog, YouTube, and Twitch for some time now, but something always distracts me or gets in the way. So, in the spirit of my content hero whom I watch all the time who goes by LethalFrag online, I have decided I am going to do a one-year content production challenge.

     I would love to commit to this being specifically a live-streaming challenge, but unfortunately I'm just not so sure at this point whether or not that would be possible; so instead I'm committing to content production. I will do my best to live-stream as often as possible throughout, but when I'm unable to do so, I'll at least make a blog post every day. If you're ever interested in checking everything that's been done, I'll keep a daily list with links on a page called One-Year Content Production Challenge.

     Will this be difficult to find the time to do something every day even if it's just a simple post saying "Hi" for the day? Yes, absolutely... but I need something personal to keep myself busy and really show that this hobby of mine is something important that I put a lot of effort into. I know it can be great if only I put in the real effort to do so. Have I talked to Carley about this? No... she'll be finding out about this as she reads it just like everybody else. (Sorry babe)

     Perhaps this entire idea will be a huge flop, but hey... we're in a time when finding a new job is quite difficult and I do have the time to keep up with this even if I sometimes don't think I really do. I appreciate each and every one of you who support me through this and I welcome all of your criticism on how I can make everything better in the future. Keep an eye out for daily updates on news, gaming, personal projects, reviews of movies, food, and much more.

As usual, you're all fantastic, and I hope you all have the best days ever! ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Idle Kingdoms - Mobile Game Review, Idle / Active City Builder - 4/10 ===

     I'm always on the lookout for new games to play especially when I'm looking to kill some time on the go. Unfortunately, this one isn't one of the best games I've played. As with all idle-type games, this one has an aspect of it where you still make progress even when you're not actively playing the game.

     Strangely with this game, there's an option whenever you turn the game back on to watch a video to get double rewards. This means you get more out of NOT playing the game for a long period, then turn the game on, upgrade a bunch of things, and do it again. I'm not sure I agree with this approach; while I do think it's good for there to be a level of progress in some way while not having the game turned on... I wouldn't want to encourage people to not play at all.

     Now we must keep in mind that this game is a game in progress. There are no sounds or music to listen to, so at this time this game doesn't get any bonus points on that front. The gameplay also seems to not be set in stone. I started playing Idle Kingdom when everything was immediately gathered by clicking the gather button. Recently there has been an update where you have manually sent out carts from your castle and gather points to bring back resources. A little bit of it is automatically gathered and there is no limit to the stockpile of resources which can sit at each location. This update seems to have made the game slower which does not feel as fun to me.

     As with most other idle games, there is a system of restarting the game to gain prestige which makes you produce and carry more with each point. Unfortunately this doesn't really solve the problem of the game still being quite slow and then rewarding you for forgetting about it for a while.

     Progressing through the game involves saving up enough food to buy the next tile which you can then build on. Every once in a while you come across a shrine which unlocks new structures or bonuses such as more prestige or faster production. There does come a point where things get so expensive that once again the game becomes so slow that it doesn't hold much interest.

     Idle Kingdom at this time gets 4/10 from me. At this time it's unfinished and I'm not a fan of the current gameplay and rewards.

~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Engagements ===

     Recently I have found myself quite busy with many engagements going on which are making it quite difficult get much done other than work, eat, and sleep. As always there's so much that I would like to do, but I'm usually either too tired from driving or I have some sort of school assignment due that night. Although there's plenty going on to keep me busy, I have managed to work through some of these engagements, and have even gotten some to work out to my advantage.

     The most prominent engagement I have currently would probably be school. With only half a month left before the finals, I'm quite close to being done the course. I'll unfortunately have a class which I'll have to retake to officially have the course certificate, but otherwise I should be quite employable in a real office setting. As much as I enjoy working where I am currently, I need to work towards something better for myself and my family because we just don't quite have the funds to get through everything we need. We're really close, but it seems like just when we're almost there, something happens which sets us behind again. This time it's a stone-chip which has become much worse than a chip. Just as we left to go get it fixed, we found that it turned from a chip to a crack which is just getting bigger each day.

     After school, I'm finding myself somewhat engaged with getting everything together at work; There's a lot of paperwork to keep up with and get on top of every day. I do however really enjoy my job. There are days when I find it difficult to get out the door and go to work and then once I get there, I find myself not wanting to make the necessary phone calls or whatever I need to do. I think if I were able to eat properly that I wouldn't have so much of that issue and I would be a much happier and more energetic person; perhaps I have an iron deficiency.

     The engagement I'm wanting to work on most is my content production. I've been so busy lately that my willpower to work on this sort of thing including my blog, Youtube, Twitch, and other projects (which also includes my garden) has declined drastically. I would like so much to work more on these sorts of things, but as of right now there are more important things to do. I'm sure I'll have much more time next month after school is done when I'll be able to live a more normal life not so full of things to do at every waking moment of the day. I keep getting the occasional subscriber or follower on YouTube and Twitch which makes me want to keep going. I keep seeing the numbers of viewers of my blog increasing over time which drives me to write more. These are things I really enjoy doing and want to succeed at without it feeling too much like work and without being exhausted all the time. I look forward to the day when I can confidently say I've truly done good work with at least one of these helping out in just a simple small way... even if it only pays for an ice cream one day down the road.

     The most exciting engagement is without a doubt the amazing news that Carley and I are ENGAGED! No seriously, there's a ring and everything. She had been saying for some time that she would be fine with a silver band, or a ring carved out of wood... or a ring pop. I managed to get her a real ring with a sapphire gem and get her out to Lake Diefenbaker where we explored the wild surroundings before finding a wonderful spot to propose to her without her having any clue about it before hand. She thought I just wanted a video of us kissing on the beach to remember the trip, but I then told her to wait and told her I had forgotten something. She had no idea what was going on and didn't believe her eyes when she saw a box get pulled out of my bag then get opened to reveal an actual engagement ring. It was such a beautiful experience going out there in general and it was made so much better by finally being able to propose to my love Carley. I look forward to our next trip out there. I only wish it didn't take 6 hours and a whole tank of gas to get there and back, but it's absolutely worth it. I wouldn't trade it for the world, and I wouldn't trade my love for the world. I'm the luckiest guy... in the world.

There are a lot of engagements going on right now and I can't wait to see how they all turn out. ^_^

~ Kyle Welykholowa